President Obama has officially nominated Senator John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Okay. I have no particular feelings about that. I'm disappointed in the way it went down, with regard to Susan Rice being chased out of the running by a bunch of Republican dipshits. But Kerry will be fine.
Chipsticks at The Obama Diary amusingly observes: "Ain't life funny? To think in 2004 an 'unknown' Barack Obama was [then Democratic presidential nominee] John Kerry's keynote convention speaker."
John Kerry Nominated as Secretary of State
Daily Dose of Cute
Sophie is staying warmly ensconced in her bed.
"No thank you."
So the NRA Gave a Press Conference...
[Content Note: Guns; violence; disablism.]
Igor's got a good summary of it here. A full transcript is here. Spoiler Alert: The solution is more guns!
My favorite part was their recommendation to keep a national database of people who are mentally ill. PERFECT. That is just a perfect idea that will definitely not further stigmatize people with psychological disabilities and discourage care-seeking, diagnose, and treatment.
In case I'm not laying it on thick enough, that was sarcasm. It is a terrible idea.
A stand-out terrible idea in a press conference entirely comprised of terrible ideas, in fact.
Anyway, here are some tweets about the NRA presser that pretty much sum it up:
Apparently the NRA is giving a press conference. Whooooooops I don't give a fuck what the NRA has to say about anything anymore.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 21, 2012
THIS IS NOT THE DAY TO POLITICIZE THE NRA'S PRESS CONFERENCE.
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) December 21, 2012
"This is the start of a serious conversation. We won't be taking any questions today."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) December 21, 2012
Surreal: LaPierre calls for a national database of the mentally ill. No similar call for a national database of every single gun owner.
— Solange U (@dcGisenyi) December 21, 2012
#nra's answer to this tragedy is to find ways to create more profits for the gun industry.
— Renee (@zetablu) December 21, 2012
Conservatism truly is broken.
— davidfrum (@davidfrum) December 21, 2012
For an organization that claims to be defending freedom, the NRA is super excited to put their kids in a police state.
— allisonkilkenny (@allisonkilkenny) December 21, 2012
Remember when all the #NRA guys said that Travon Martin would still be alive if he'd had a concealed 9mm?Me neither.
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) December 21, 2012
And FYI, the NRA hasn't been silent up to now. They just haven't been talking to us. And they weren't talking to us at the presser either.
— SharkFu (@SharkFu) December 21, 2012
The NRA has rickrolled the whole country into watching just another standard Wayne LaPierre stump speech saying we need more guns.
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) December 21, 2012
This is what they went silent for a week to say. THIS. A database of the mentally ill and guns in every school. Wow. #NRA
— Grace (@graceishuman) December 21, 2012
The NRA wants a database of the mentally ill? LOL okay. Put me on it. Cross-reference with "list of people who prioritize lives over guns."
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 21, 2012
Discuss.
This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
[Content Note: Gun violence; misogyny; gender essentialism.]
Yesterday's Worst Thing was a heaping pile of contemptible garbage by noted conservative thinker [sic] Charlotte Allen.
Today's Worst Thing is Charlotte Allen's reprehensible defense of that heaping pile of contemptible garbage.
As usual, it's tough to pick a favorite passage, but I'm gonna go with:
I am also responding to David Weigel, who told me I gotten my facts wrong: that there are actually two men, a custodian and a fourth-grade teacher, on Sandy Hook's 52-person staff. He's right, and I stand corrected. This does help prove my point, though: just two adult men in a building containing 500 people — and it's not clear that both of them were at work that day. Indeed, a visit to Sandy Hook's staff website is a depressing experience, the sea of women's names. Why aren't there more men?I genuinely pity a woman so full of self-loathing that viewing "a sea of women's names" at any place of non-exploitative employment is a depressing experience. What a terrible way to go through life.
[H/T to Shaker dani_alexis, in comments.]
Today in Fiscal Cliffery
Obama: Something something revenue.
Boehner: Phbbbbbbbbbbbt!
Obama: Something something deficit.
Boehner: Nyah nyah nyah nyah I can't hear you!
Obama: Responsible.
Boehner: Cooties!
Obama: Compromise.
Boehner: *makes fart sound with armpit*
Obama: Concessions.
Boehner: Ademocratsayswhat?
Obama: Are you kidding me? America, the Republicans are fools. I don't even know what else to tell you anymore. I'm dealing with a collection of crudsmudges who would introduce legislation that the sky is red if I said it is blue.
Boehner: *poops pants*
* * *
Paul Krugman: Playing Taxes Hold 'Em.
TPM: Republicans Crush Boehner's Plan B.
New York Times: Boehner Cancels Tax Vote in Face of GOP Revolt.
Washington Post: How Boehner's Plan B for the 'Fiscal Cliff' Began and Fell Apart.
Greg Sargent: AFL-CIO to White House: Time to Rescind Your Offer to Boehner.
Etc. Discuss.
Top Five
Here is your topic: Top Five Worst Things About This Apocalypse. Y'know: Not enough zombies, too much electricity, that sort of thing. Go!
Please feel welcome to share stories about why your Top Five picks are what they are, though a straight-up list is fine, too. Please refrain from negatively auditing other people's lists, because judgment discourages participation.
Here Is the First Picture of Tom Hardy as Mad Max
You're welcome.
Iain sent me the link to this, knowing well my preoccupation with Tom Hardy. After I made the expected inappropriate comments to make Iain laugh, I said, "In all seriousness, that looks great. And despite my general suspicion and reflexive resentment of remakes, I'll be glad to have a new Mad Max that doesn't star a vile anti-Semite." To which Iain replied, "Yeah, I love those movies. Very happy with the casting. Hardy is badass."
Totes.
Simple
[Content Note: Guns; disablism.]
This piece by Adam Gopnik for the New Yorker about the simple solution to stopping gun violence is pretty great (although it does include some disablist language of the "using sane/crazy as synonyms for decent/indecent" sort).
I absolutely agree with the premise: There are complex institutional failures that lead someone to pick up a gun and start shooting, but the easiest and most sensible thing to fix is access to guns.
And I will make a side note that, even with Scotland's very tight gun laws, people who need guns (e.g. farmers) still have them. This narrative in the US that there's no way to balance serious gun reform against the necessity of owning rifles for farmers, subsistence hunters, etc. is bullshit. Of course that is possible.
Open Thread
This week's open threads have been brought to you by dim sum.
Question of the Day
What are your favorite and least favorite uses of your name in pop culture? Books, films, television shows, songs, comics, anything…
My name isn't really used enough to have much of an answer for this one. Probably the most well-known pop culture reference using my name is the Allman Brothers' "Melissa," which isn't even really about a girl named Melissa as much as it is about a rambling dude who fancies a girl named Melissa. Wev. I like Erykah Badu's version, though.
Porno Graffiti also have a song called [CN: strobe effect at link] "Melissa," which someone put on a mix CD for me once. I like the song, even though I have no idea what it's about since I don't speak/read Japanese.
Other than that, it's pretty slim pickings. Melanie Mayron's character in Thirtysomething was named Melissa, which is the only recurring television character I can recall, and I can't think of a major movie character named Melissa at all. (In fact, the only one I can think of is Jami Gertz's character in Twister, which is pretty pathetic, lol.)
So I don't really have a favorite. I can tell you my least favorite use of my name of all time has been as the name of a computer virus that made national headlines. That was a fun few weeks. Meh.
Here Are Three Things I Read Today
[Content Note: Institutional rape/violence against women—graphic.]
Katy Migiro at TrustLaw: Nairobi in Crisis as Women Are Beaten, Raped, and Killed with Impunity.
Jayashree Nandi & Dwaipayan Ghosh in the Times of India: Fierce Protests in New Delhi After Gang Rape of Woman on Bus
Jessica Fender in the Denver Post: Judge: Denver Cop Convicted of Rape and Kidnapping Free on Bond Until Sentencing.
I don't know what to say about these stories. Which are only three that I saw, with many more in the world today I did not see.
I don't know what to do about stopping this from happening, except to wield my one little teaspoon every day with as much furious resolve as I can.
I share a grim sisterhood with the victimized women at their centers. I guess I just want to mark that this is happening, that I am paying attention, and that I thirst for justice and peace.
Miss Universe
So, last night was the Miss Universe pageant, and it was won by Miss USA Olivia Culpo. USA! etc. This is something that I normally wouldn't even mention, except for the fact that, as you may recall, Culpo won Miss USA after giving a trans*-positive answer when asked (the bullshit question) whether she thought it would be fair if a trans* woman won.
So yay for her and yay for us all.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Guns; violence; misogyny.]
"I am feeling that there is more anger toward the mother than there is toward the son."—Lisa Sheridan, a resident of Newtown, quoted in an article about the town's feelings toward Nancy Lanza, mother and first victim of mass murderer Adam Lanza.
It's understandable to wonder why Nancy Lanza owned weapons, or the particular weapons she did, or how secure she kept them, although it's not particularly fair to fail to consider the possibility she had them to protect herself from her son, given that he was, indisputably, a danger to her.
It's understandable to wonder why she took him to the gun range with her, although it's not particularly fair to fail to grant her the good faith assumption it was not because she intended to train him to murder children.
It's understandable to wonder a lot of things, because we know precious little about Nancy Lanza, except that she apparently gave up her career to stay home with her troubled son. And that her life ended at his hands.
It's bullshit to hold her more accountable than her adult son.
[H/T to Erica.]
Arf Scarf
Do you want to see 20 cute pictures of stylish dogs in scarves? Sure, why not, right? Welp, here ya go!
Zelda yawns with indifference. "Been there, done that."
In The News
[Content note: Guns, gun violence, homophobia, misogyny]
It Is Thursday:
Actual Headline: "Squeezing breasts could prevent cancer, best study ever says."
Gay rights pioneer Richard Adams died Monday morning.
Guess what? Bill O'Reilly covers the War On Christmas more than actual wars. (See also.)
American gun deaths to exceed traffic fatalities by 2015. America! What a country!
The Irish government announced that it will draft new legislation to clarify the country's restrictive abortion ban.
Judd Apatow's new movie contains jokes about murdering children. Edgy!
The Vatican says gay marriage is a false utopia. The Vatican knows a lot about false utopias.
The CDC reports a 22 percent increase in HIV among young gay men.
Guns out of stock at Wal-Mart as magazine prices surge. America! What a country!
If you have 89 cents, check out Big Al's doomsday prepper song.
New counterterrorism database rules threaten the privacy of every American.
Sheldon Adelson spent as much as $150 million trying to buy the 2012 election. America! What a country!
Newt Gingrich thinks he would have done better than Mitt Romney if he'd been nominated. (But everyone still hates you, Newt!)
Where's your figgy pudding? Right here.
Photo of the Day
[Click to embiggen.]
The sun blasts hundreds of millions of tons of superheated plasma into space at a speed of 1,400 kilometers per second (900 miles per second) on Aug. 31, 2012. [NASA/GSFC/SDO]
From Phil Plait's "The Best Astronomy Images of 2012."
[H/T to Jordan.]
